Israel Launches Operation Litani, Invading Southern Lebanon
25,000 Israeli troops cross border in retaliation for Coastal Road massacre, aiming to push PLO forces north of Litani River.
BEIRUT - Israel launched a massive invasion of southern Lebanon today, sending 25,000 troops across the border in Operation Litani, its largest military operation since the 1973 war, aimed at destroying PLO bases used for attacks on Israeli territory.
The invasion, triggered by Saturday’s Coastal Road massacre that killed 38 Israelis, involves armored columns advancing on three fronts with air force and naval support. Israeli forces quickly overran Palestinian positions, pushing toward the Litani River 18 miles north of the border.
“We will clean out the terrorist nests once and for all,” Defense Minister Ezer Weizman declared. “Lebanon must choose: either control its territory or we will do it for them.”
The assault has created a new humanitarian catastrophe, with 100,000 Lebanese civilians fleeing northward. Palestinian refugee camps, home to 300,000 people, bear the brunt of Israeli bombardment.
“The Israelis are destroying everything—not just PLO positions but entire villages,” reported UN observer Colonel Emmanuel Erskine. “The civilian casualties are mounting rapidly.”
PLO forces, caught off-guard by the invasion’s scale, are retreating northward after offering limited resistance. “We will regroup and continue our struggle,” vowed a Fatah commander. “This aggression only strengthens Palestinian determination.”
The Lebanese government, powerless to prevent either PLO attacks or Israeli retaliation, appealed desperately to the UN Security Council. Prime Minister Selim al-Hoss accused Israel of “collective punishment against innocent Lebanese for Palestinian actions.”
International reaction has been swift. The United States, while understanding Israeli security concerns, worries about derailing the Egyptian-Israeli peace process. The Soviet Union condemned the “aggressive Zionist invasion” and threatened countermeasures.
France, with historic ties to Lebanon, called for immediate Israeli withdrawal. President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing warned: “This invasion destabilizes the entire region and punishes Lebanon for problems not of its making.”
The invasion highlights Lebanon’s tragedy as battlefield for others’ conflicts. Since “Black September” in 1970 drove Palestinian forces from Jordan, Lebanon’s weak state became the PLO’s main base, dragging the country into the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation.
As Israeli jets bomb suspected PLO positions and artillery pounds refugee camps, the operation’s goals remain unclear: temporary punishment raid or long-term occupation? Either way, Lebanon pays the price for a conflict not its own.